Taos Fiber Marketplace

Taos Fiber Marketplace, a brief recap

I did demonstrate at Taos Fiber Marketplace on Saturday at the Taos Convention Center. It was not a lovely day and Taos was not flooded with crowds of people enjoying the sunshine. In fact, at one point it was snowing. But I did meet many amazing people, most of whom were vendors or artists, and I enjoyed my time there. And I was pleased to have a couple potential students and people interested in my work come and search me out specifically.

Here are a few photos from the weekend. And of course I did a lot more talking than weaving, so little progress was made on the Mirrix.
 
I bought some more tools from Jim Hokett of Hokett Would Work. He makes amazing weaving tools in his workshop in Magdalena, NM. I have not used a boat shuttle for years, but he had some very tiny ones made for using that little bit of warp you want to fill at the end of your project. I never have that problem with tapestry, but I do have trouble with the warp-as-weft sections I use in my headers especially on the Mirrix. The bobbins I have the warp wound on are difficult to get through the narrow Mirrix warp. One of Jim's shuttles was perfect! And it is gorgeous.







This is Bettye Sullivan and the rugs she and her husband Alex make.
I was rather unreasonably excited about this idea. This is Margaret Sunday's flower hammer being held up by magnets. Look at all the tools you can keep track of with an idea like this. I'll be looking for those magnets. Thanks Margaret!

Taos Fiber Marketplace, this Saturday!

 I will be at Taos Fiber Marketplace this Saturday from 9 am to about 4:30 pm demonstrating tapestry. (I reserve the right to leave to either go to the bathroom or get some lunch in case that is when you're looking for me!)

My new postcards arrive tomorrow.
My loom is warped and a demo piece underway.
Unfortunately the car is still filthy and the dog has to go to the kennel. But other than that, we're good to travel!

If you're in Taos this Saturday, April 20th, stop by the convention center and look me up! The website for Taos Fiber Marketplace is HERE.









If not, maybe you should come by Taos Fiber Marketplace this weekend... that is Taos, New Mexico by the way. Taos Convention Center. Check this website for details: http://www.taosfibermarketplace.com/

Cat Mountain Fiber Arts


A few weeks ago I was leaving downtown Alamosa, Colorado and I saw a sign on the sidewalk for The Yarn Gallery. My slipping memory dug deep and remembered that this place was only open on Fridays and I am rarely in downtown Alamosa on Fridays. So I re-parked the car and went up. I was so delighted by what I found that I returned the next Friday to take some photos and talk to Kimberly some more.

Kimberly Perkins runs a small yarn shop and studio on the second floor of an old Masonic building on Main Street. Her main business focus is her hand-dyed yarns which she sells a great deal of at fiber festivals all over the United States. Her online store is HERE. She has some patterns on Ravelry also. Look for Cat Mountain Fiber Arts or kimberlyknitter.
She hand-dyes kits for patterns in Knit, Swirl! by Sandra McIver (as well as many other projects!). There are photos of the patterns in this book on Sandra's website at www.knitswirl.com. The knitting is done with a worsted weight yarn and a lace weight and the effect is of a transparency in the thin yarn. The patterns are knitted largely in one piece and they look like a lot of fun.

Kimberly was knitting one of them up with her beautiful yarn when I was there. It will be stunning once it is finished and blocked.


The yarns needed for these patterns are in various weights and Kimberly dyes them in one hank. The effect is rather magical.

They contain various fibers including merino wool, silk, alpaca, bamboo, and nylon (there are some colorways with metalic thread).
The yarn is dyed one part of the skein at a time. In this photo the yellow is wicking up one of the fibers. She will turn the skein and dye another portion of it another color which results in a beautiful blending where the two colors meet.

White fiber ready for dyeing.
The Yarn Gallery carries other yarn also as well as some knitting supplies so if you're heading through Alamosa on a Friday (or certainly if you live there!), go take a look. Kimberly had some enchanting yarn she spun herself that had beads in it. I am looking for the right project to add some of that to the stash begin knitting that right off!

Look for Kimberly Perkins at Taos Fiber Marketplace in April and at Taos Wool Festival in October. I know I will!

This is exactly how I feel about yarn stores... (and bookstores too if you must know)

Note: 4/20/13
Here is a photo of the finished sweater as seen at Taos Fiber Marketplace.